Where Secrets Lie

Kara decided to hold off. She wasn't sure if his dad was dead or dead dead. Without hesitation, she stood, walked over to Alex and removed the stake from his chest.

"Step one complete." She wore a worried look. "Time for step two, I guess."

She hooked up Alexander to an IV, after watching a ton of youtube videos and many pokes on his arm. She sat there waiting but after six bags, it looked hopeless. She went into the living room to stretch her legs. It had been hours and no luck. "Maybe he is really dead," She thought.

Kara wandered back into the room but the bed was empty, and the rest of the bags of blood were torn to shreds "Alexander?" She looked around the room, frantic.

"Anna," A soft voice spoke from behind her.

Kara turned around, catching Alex as he fell out of the shadows and into her arms. She couldn't bear his weight and both went tumbling onto the floor.

Kara could only whisper as he was pressing hard against her chest. "But, I'm not−"

Alex sunk his teeth into her neck, enjoying the fresh, hot blood. He felt himself getting stronger as he continued to drink. When he finally regained his senses and pulled away, he had nearly drained Kara dry.

When Kara woke, it was early in the morning. She didn't remember what happened, until she spotted Alexander sitting beside her on the bed, wearing a confused look.

"Asleep for 200 years. How can this be?" He asked.

Kara felt that he was speaking to himself more than he was to her. She wasn't sure what answer he was looking for. She sat up and pulled the patterned quilt close to her.

"I believe it was a stake to the chest," she joked in a nervous manner. He looked at her. His eyes piercing her soul. She was beginning to see where Michael got his charm from, and his looks as well. "200 years huh?"

"A lot has changed in this world, but newspapers remain the same." he gave a faint smile.

"Have you fully recovered?" she asked.

"Almost, but I won't feed on you again if that's what you're asking. You belong to my son." His eyes lingered down to her chest. "Anna's necklace suits you well. You remind me of her." Alexander replied.

She clasped her hands around the cross that she had forgotten she wore. "Thank you... wait, you saw my memories? How? Michael isn't even able to see them."

"I'm an original, my child."

"An original," she thought back to Logan telling her about them. "The first of vampires. How did you become one?" Kara asked.

Alexander looked aimlessly off into the distance and was quiet for a few moments before he began to speak. "It was always my mother, my brother and I as a family, but in the 9th century, Europe was invaded. What you would call "Vikings" decided to capture and expand through Britain. My brother and I decided to join the resistance, against my mother's wishes. It didn't last long."

"Why?" Kara questioned.

"We were killed." He said. "I didn't know at the time, but my mother practiced magic. To bring a person back from the dead is forbidden, and two is even worse. To bring us back to life took the blood of twenty-four innocent people." He grimaced. "Luckily war tends to bring about plenty of bodies to go around. When I awoke from, well, being dead, everything was different. Lights were brighter, my vision was sharper, I could hear a cat meowing from miles away and all food tasted better even. It was like being born again. Everything was better, except for one thing."

"What?" Kara asked, but had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"Except for the thirst for blood. It took some getting used to. After we came back from death, we helped destroy the Vikings and sent them back from whatever hellhole they came from. Being surrounded by all that blood was hard, and we gave in. The first taste of blood was euphoric. It made us stronger and faster, and we couldn't get enough. Eventually, we started making more vampires, but it was an unintentional mistake on our part. My mother saw what was happening. She started to regret what she had done, but she knew it was too late to stop the snowball. Instead, she chose to limit our movements. She came up with a curse, but she loved my brother and me too much to put it on us. Instead, she put it on all the vampires we created, and the curse continued on to the ones they created and so forth."

"Exactly."

"But what about the vision thing? How did you get that?" Kara asked.

"The spell that my mother cast to bring us back to life didn't come without consequences. The black magic that she used consumed her, and it eventually drove her insane. She no longer loved or cared for us and wanted us dead. She put a rotting curse on my brother, but I couldn't let him go to waste. I went there to just talk to her, but things didn't go as planned. I knew the instant she saw me that she no longer viewed me as her son. It destroyed me, and I couldn't control my anger. I turned violent, but she was faster. She cursed me to see and feel the emotions of any person that I drink from right before I ripped out her jugular with my teeth."

"I'm sorry." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "I guess, you did what you had to. To protect Elijah." Alexander wrinkled his nose. "Oh boy," she said. "You're about to tell me something that I don't want to know, aren't you?"

"Elijah betrayed me! I think it's time everyone knew the truth!" There was that temper that Kara had seen so many times before in Michael.

"Time everyone knew what?" she asked reluctantly.

"I created Elijah. He is not my real brother."

Kara chuckled nervously. "Okay. If Elijah is not your real brother, then what about that story you just told me? Who did you save?"

"My brother's name is John. John Powell."